Evacuees and Crabapple Trees : Zaffre : 9781804185490 : 1804185493 : 15 Aug 2024 : 'Sheila had such a remarkable way of bringing her characters and her stories to life and we are all very grateful for the lovely legacy she left behind through her novels.' Rosie Goodwin One last cough from the overheated engine of the Morris 8 and the bulging doors appeared to burst at the seams, with children tumbling eagerly out and dispersing in all directions - rushing past the shabby old weather boarded cottage into the tangled orchard and, with joyous whoops, discovering the gnarled plum trees groaning under the weight of huge, glistening purple-red Victorias. At the outbreak of World War II seven-year-old Sheila and her family left Surrey to take refuge in Suffolk. For Sheila country life was strange at first, but roaming the fields and picking wildflowers was what childhood dreams were made of. When the bombing died down, the family moved back to Surrey, but Sheila would later return to the co